Today is the first day of spring
semester classes, and it was great to see our students coming and going
when I was on campus in historic Anderson Hall for President Schulz's
cabinet meeting this morning.

Speaking of history, yesterday's
holiday honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
always reminds us of the fact that on January 19, 1968, Ahearn Field
House was the site of Dr. King's last campus address prior to that
tragic day in Memphis. In fact, the notes that he used for the Ahearn
address were found in his pocket after he was assassinated. Building on
this legacy, K-State's Office of Multicultural Programs and Diversity,
led by Dr. Myra Gordon, provides terrific leadership in building an
inclusive campus climate that fosters mutual understanding among diverse
groups. Click here for more information on the university's
multicultural programs. Just to the south and east of Ahearn you can
view the special pedestal bust honoring Dr. King and marking his speech
here.

Last week was also a historic one for college athletics,
starting with the inaugural College Football Playoff championship game
in Arlington last Monday and concluding with the NCAA convention in the
Washington DC area. It was an honor to be able to attend both, but I
must admit I was very glad when my American Airlines flight touched down
in MHK Sunday night (totally full and a few minutes early I might add),
and I am enjoying a stretch of at least seven straight nights in my own
house!

My flight to the NCAA convention arrived in DC on Friday
afternoon in time to have a great visit with former K-State fullback
Larry Brown, who played at K-State for the late Vince Gibson before an
all-star eight-year NFL career in Washington, including being named MVP
in 1972. In his post-playing days Larry has had a successful career in
finance and commercial real estate. It was fun to hear his stories
about first coming to Dodge City Community College and then to
Manhattan.

I then hopped in a cab and attended a spirited K-State
Alumni Association reception with over 50 Wildcat grads and fans.
These DC gatherings remind us of the service and leadership of K-Staters
- especially in the military. Among those in attendance were senior
officers from the Army and Navy and Air Force Brigadier General Ken
Lewis, Jr., and his wife Micki. If you are a DC area alum be sure and
link up with the outstanding chapter there by clicking here.

Saturday's
meetings were highlighted by the first-ever Autonomy Business and
Voting sessions where five conferences, the Big 12, ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12
and SEC, met to consider various reforms and enhancements for
student-athlete welfare. Each of the 65 schools (including Notre Dame)
has one vote, and then each conference has three voting student-athlete
representatives for a total of 80 votes. I was so impressed with the
comments from the student-athlete representatives, many of which were
counter to what popular media opinion might have expected. Of the many
topics discussed, the majority of the attention was focused on the cost
of attendance, four-year scholarships and concussion protocol proposals -
all were passed, although most of these proposals were redundant to Big
12 bylaw enhancements announced in November. I have said many times
that there has never been a better time in the history of
intercollegiate athletics to be a student-athlete, and we continue to
work to make that experience even better. The "cost of attendance"
measure alone will mean $100+ million additional aid dollars being
directly allocated to student-athletes annually beginning in the 2015-16
academic year.

On a related topic, I was also
forwarded this interesting infographic from the Knight Commission by one
of our staff members which is a snapshot of our spending and reflects
favorably of both K-State's academic and athletic investment toward our
students.

With four home competitions, today is a busy day for K-State Athletics. It begins at 11 a.m., with track and field competing at Ahearn Field House, then at noon, women's tennis will take advantage of the warm weather and compete outdoors at Mike Goss Tennis Stadium. The day will then continue at Bramlage Coliseum with men's basketball at 2 p.m., and conclude with women's basketball at 7 p.m.